Historic lodging changing hands

GRAFTON — Once she decided to scale back her business, passing the torch in providing specialized lodging came easy for the owner of Jeni J.’s Unique Gifts and Guesthouses.

Owner Nancy Wilson of Godfrey found a good fit in Sherrie Heaton and Nancy Gish, each of whom bought structures recently from Wilson, who has operated Jeni J.’s in Grafton for 13 years.

Wilson, an avid St. Louis Cardinals’ fan, along with her husband, Michael Wilson, who retired from the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, want time to pursue that interest by traveling to out-of-town baseball games and spring training, among other pursuits, Nancy Wilson said.

She will still own and operate four guesthouses and the Jeni J.’s specialty retail boutique at 214 W. Main St.

Gish closed on one of Wilson’s former guesthouses at 301 W. Main St. near the end of March; Gish already had her bicycle rental business, Purple Peddlers, in the works and installed eight bicycles once concrete pads were laid at the Main Street property. Dubbed the Beach House, Gish kept the name and now Gish’s guesthouse, The Beach House, has three bicycles in a rack at the property in front of the house and five at the back of the house.

“A lot of boaters have been over,” said Gish, of Grafton. “I was talking to Nancy one day, and the cottages came up and that she and Mike wanted to sell and she wanted to eventually retire. I always liked that little beach house and Grafton attracted me. I love the town and the people. I’ve never seen a community come together like this one. Nancy and I worked it out and, eventually, I want to make it retail. I’m kicking ideas around about what I’ll put there.”

New proprietor Heaton bought Wilson’s historic stone cottage — constructed of Mississippi River bluff limestone — at 120 W. Main St., and the former Two Rivers Winery building, at 211 W. Main St., both remodeled to function as guesthouses. Heaton already owned and operated lodging properties in Grafton and Hardin.

When the opportunity to buy the former Two Rivers building came up, Heaton went for it.

“My daughter absolutely loves Grafton. She just loves these houses,” Heaton said. “So, it’s like these houses have become my children. I’m so proud of these houses and the hard work involved.”

Heaton’s love for renovating houses started in Carrollton, where she remodeled a house, for which she won an award, then sold it almost immediately upon completion. She recently sold another refurbished Carrollton house.

“I thought instead of doing it like that, let’s try doing guesthouses and let’s just have Rustic Retreats offer something for everyone, which is what we’ve done,” Heaton said.